Champion Henin eases past Bartoli

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EASTBOURNE, England -- Defending Eastbourne champion Justine Henin continued her immaculate preparations for Wimbledon with a clinical 6-1 6-3 victory over Marion Bartoli to reach the final of the WTA event on England's south coast.

Henin was detained on the grass courts of the seaside town for less than an hour by her eighth-seeded French opponent.

"It is perfect preparation for me," smiled Henin, who has won every grand slam title except Wimbledon.

She will play reigning Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo in Sunday's final.

The French second seed progressed when Nadia Petrova of Russia pulled out injured in the second semifinal when a set down.

Mauresmo made heavy weather of the set, being broken when serving for the match before taking it 6-4 on Petrova's delivery.

The third seed, who had injured her right shoulder in beating Sybille Bammer in the previous round and also had strapping on her thigh, called it a day before the second set could get underway.

"Still some room to improve, I think," Mauresmo, who like Henin has not dropped a set here, told a news conference.

"Apart from my serve, which didn't work so well today, I am pretty happy about the rest of my game."

The Frenchwoman said she was looking forward to Saturday's final against Henin.

"It is a great opportunity to have another great match, to compare myself with the best player on the tour, see where I am right now and try and get another title under my belt," she said. "I am expecting a tough one."

While Mauresmo labored, top-seeded Henin broke Bartoli' s service immediately to go up 2-0 in the first set, and then hit a backhand winner down the line to earn a second break for 5-1.

Henin served out for the set, holding off the only break point she faced in the match when Bartoli made a backhand error.

Bartoli offered more resistance in the second set behind a strong serve, and kept pace with Henin to 3-3, before the top-ranked Belgian won the last three games.

Henin clinched the victory on her second match point, when Bartoli's backhand sailed long.

Jankovic battles to final

Top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia secured a place in the Den Bosch Open final with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 win over last year's runner-up Dinara Safina.

In a close-fought thriller, Jankovic, who was struggling with a hamstring injury, saw five match points slip through her fingers before finally overcoming her Russian opponent in the tiebreak with a swiping crosscourt shot at the net.

"I wasn't at my best. I was struggling with my shots...but the most important thing is that I was fighting and I stayed in the match," she said.

Jankovic will play Anna Chakvetadze in the final, after the Russian dispatched Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-4.

Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, seeded second, won a place in the men's final by beating Julien Benneteau of France 7-6 3-6 6-4.

Benneteau bounced back in the second set after losing an error-riddled tiebreak but was outplayed in the third.

Ljubicic will face either Antony Dupuis of France or Peter Wessels of the Netherlands in the final.

The second semifinal was suspended overnight because of rain, with Wessels leading 6-5 in the first set.

Earlier in the day Dupuis finished off his rain-interrupted quarterfinal against German Benjamin Becker with a 7-6 6-3 win.

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